I have just found out that I have graves disease, The doctor asked me what symptoms I had, I told him, I itched all the time, 1 minute hot then cold, really bad headaches, elbows are sore, I have panic attacks, feel emotional a lot of the time, lack of sleeping, feeling tired all the time, I ache all the time, don't have a lot of energy. feel stressed most days. I had bloods done, and my thyroid was low, and brain hormone very high, he also said that my liver was just ok. All he said was repeat blood test in 3 months time. and gave me piriton for the itching, it helped for a few days but now I am itching again. Any help will be grateful
Hi, I'm not sure how much help I can be other than sharing my own experiences - I was diagnosed with Graves' disease yesterday! I've had hyperthyroidism in the past a few years ago and was treated with Carbimazole however this made me nauseous and eventually it made me actually sick a few times so I was put on Propylthiouracil. Eventually with a combination of Propylthiouracil and Thyroxine my T3 levels went back to normal and I was able to come off of all medication.
Then in late Spring I started experiencing what I feared were over-active thyroid symptoms, i went to the doctor and they tested my blood and my thyroid level was at the high end but they said they thought it was stress and I had to try stress management techniques. They gave me beta blockers for the palpitations but the sweats and emotions being all over the place continued so I went back to my own doctor who referred me to the Thyroid Clinic.
I went for a thyroid scan yesterday and the doctor talked through the pictures taken of my thyroid explaining what a 'normal' thyroid should look like and that due to my age and gender etc (29 year old female) he was certain I have Graves' Disease.
The doctor explained that I really have two options which are Radioiodine treatment or surgery but as I have Graves' it's likely that they would have to remove most of if not all of my thyroid and I would be on Thyroxine for the rest of my life. With the radioiodine there's at least a chance I won't go hypothyroid and have to take thyroxine for the rest of my days.
Can I ask what treatment you've been given so far aside from being given antihistamine?
I've had a couple (not many) instances of hive like itchy patches of skin and I assumed this was an allergic reaction to something I'd eaten or to laundry detergent or something and hadn't realised this could be thyroid / graves' related.
The symptom of itching is listed here so this may be useful http://thyroid.about.com/od/hyperthyroidismgraves/a/overview.htm
I hope it's not getting you down too much....I know it's not easy and if often feels like people don't get it because they can't physically see anything wrong with you and many think you're just being grumpy for no reason. I'm far from an expert but if there's anything you want to ask about my previous thyroid fun I'll try and help.
Lynsey
Hi lynsey, I have not been put on any other tablets yet. Just been told to go back in 3 months for another blood test. Itching is really annoying. if I don't take the tablets I itch all the time. if I do take them I itch now and then, but worse if I went in the bath. I am sooo tired all the time.
I feel so down most of the day I don't know what i am feeling, I forget things sooo many times. i feel so useless. i just want to be sorted instead of feeling down, sick to my stomach of the headaches.
thank you for you reply
Stephen
Well if it helps you're not alone, there's plenty of us going through the same thing who can understand just how completely rubbish you're feeling. I too have constant headaches, feel sick a lot and ache all over just feeling exhausted.
If they're not giving you any other treatment yet and basically leaving you to 'get on with it' I'd go back and let them know that you can't go on like this, they need to try something. Perhaps you could request a thyroid scan to shed some light on things. I know my last 2 blood results have been relatively normal but seeing the picture of what's actually going on with my thyroid helped me a lot as I was feeling like "am i just imagining this, or being a hypochondriac" because my T3 count isn't even that high.
One thing I'm so learning is that sitting back and going along with what the doctors say isn't always the best, I think we all need to be a little but pushy to make sure they're doing whatever they can to help.
Also it may be an idea to talk to the doctor about how down you're feeling as I already suffer from depression which is managed very well with medication but since my thyroid went wonky again I've felt like I'm losing my marbles at times so maybe there's something the doctor can do to help.
Take care of yourself and remember you can't help how you're feeling so just focus on yourself if you need to. And if you need to go to bed and shut the world out for a bit then do it, you may feel better for getting a good rest.